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Old 08-22-2020, 09:50 PM   #1
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Toad battery dies during the tow

We bought a Kia Soul to tow behind our 2018 Thor Siesta 24SS. The whole tow kit was professionally installed, and our breaking system is the Stay-In-Play duo. Yesterday was our first real adventure with it, and we towed it over 400 miles and it was like it wasn't even back there; we even averaged 14.5 mpg.

When I went to disconnect it at the campground, the battery was DEAD as it could be. Now the manual Kia Soul is called the Basic for a reason: it has almost nothing in it. To tow, you turn the key to accessory, and make sure all the accessories are off. In this case that would be the radio, lights, and a/c and fan. That's all there is.

The installer assured me all power to the Stay-in-Play was coming from the RV. So I am stumped. What the heck drained the battery?

Any thoughts out there?

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Old 08-22-2020, 11:24 PM   #2
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You could check the voltage on the charge pin of the 7-pin connector at your hitch. Perhaps the RV isn't providing power.

Or just pick up one of those testers for cheap.
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Old 08-23-2020, 12:59 AM   #3
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Well, since we don't know how your braking system was wired for power it makes it difficult to give you useful answers.

Is the braking system powered directly from the MH charge wire? Or does it get its power from the onboard battery and the MH charging line is supposed to keep the onboard battery charged?

400 miles? How many hours? Was there an overnight break and the toad left in ACC?

How old is the toad battery? At best when new it probably only had 75 AH.

So many unknowns.........

And although this forum has a lot of Thor specific knowledge as well as general RV systems knowledge it is probably pretty weak on specific toad knowledge. You may get better answers about your Soul issue from the "Toads and Motorhome Related Towing" section of IRV2.
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Old 08-23-2020, 01:26 AM   #4
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Dead Toad Battery

Just a good guess here is that your Kia is dead the same reason our 2020 Wrangler battery is sometimes dead upon arriving at our destination. Every time the brake comes on, all the instruments on the dash light up as if you are getting ready to start the engine. I had a charging line added to the pin connector and wired to the Wrangler's battery. I also had a RVi towed vehicle monitor installed. Now when the RV is running you can see that the toad battery is being charged. There were times before this install when very little braking occurred that the battery did not get drained. It is all about all the electronics on today's vehicles. Hope this info helps.
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Old 08-23-2020, 07:22 PM   #5
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When we had the invisibrake system, we had to leave the RV lights on to charge the road battery
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Old 08-23-2020, 07:59 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Connieb View Post
When we had the invisibrake system, we had to leave the RV lights on to charge the road battery
That would be an incorrect installation on your MH side.
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:39 PM   #7
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Camping world did it which was my first mistake, but that's the way it was set up.
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Old 08-24-2020, 02:27 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
That would be an incorrect installation on your MH side.
Actually that is the install procedure from Roadmaster
The unit - and charging- is on when parking lights are on...

Was recommended by my installer to have ‘always on’ rather than tied to lights, and that is what I did...

But they followed the instructions if tied to RV lights.
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Old 08-24-2020, 02:54 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
That would be an incorrect installation on your MH side.
Not for InvsiBrake. InvsiBrake charges the battery off the tail light power so no dedicated charge line is needed even though I had put in just in case.

Getting ready to put another 800 miles on the setup taking the rig back home.
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Old 08-24-2020, 02:55 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Connieb View Post
Camping world did it which was my first mistake, but that's the way it was set up.
They did it right.
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Old 08-24-2020, 02:56 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gmc View Post
Actually that is the install procedure from Roadmaster
The unit - and charging- is on when parking lights are on...

Was recommended by my installer to have ‘always on’ rather than tied to lights, and that is what I did...

But they followed the instructions if tied to RV lights.
True, if you rely on only the 4-flat connection the only way to charge the batteries is from the parking light circuit and you are limited to 2 amps max. In my mind the CORRECT way to setup a charging circuit to a toad is with a 6 or 7 wire connector that includes power from the towing vehicle all the time.
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Old 08-24-2020, 12:31 PM   #12
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According to the. Instructions for invisibrake that is how it's supposed to be, lights on RV to charge
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Old 08-24-2020, 12:39 PM   #13
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According to the. Instructions for invisibrake that is how it's supposed to be, lights on RV to charge
As mentioned in the post above yours, that is the Invisibrake work-around to charge the toad battery using only the 4 flat trailer connector. That is not the standard way to charge the toad battery using the alternator on the MH to supply 12 VDC for charging through a standard 6 or 7 prong trailer connector.
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Old 08-24-2020, 12:41 PM   #14
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Maybe I have an older unit ,don't know
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Old 08-24-2020, 05:09 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Connieb View Post
Maybe I have an older unit ,don't know
Your InvisiBrake is fine the way it is.
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Old 08-24-2020, 05:13 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
As mentioned in the post above yours, that is the Invisibrake work-around to charge the toad battery using only the 4 flat trailer connector. That is not the standard way to charge the toad battery using the alternator on the MH to supply 12 VDC for charging through a standard 6 or 7 prong trailer connector.
Uses 7 pin not 4 flat. It doesn’t need a dedicated charge line off the 7 pin. And it is not a work around but a feature to keep the TOAD battery charged when a dedicated charge line is not installed like some other brake units.

Been using the InvsiBrake for some time how. Wouldn’t have anything else.
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Old 08-29-2020, 06:54 PM   #17
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I have towed my jeep for 5 years now and what I use is a Towed Battery Charger. It uses the hot pin from the MH connector, it is installed in the jeep and then charges the battery whenever I'm hooked up.
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Old 08-29-2020, 07:23 PM   #18
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Could be a simple fix

The pros who installed my invisibrake system told me to turn the key to the notch where the dash lights come on (acc), then turn the key toward you one notch (on). My toad is a 2004 Jeep Liberty manual transmission with 4wd. Good luck.
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:16 PM   #19
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I have to pull two fuses on my 2017 Buick Envision in order not to drain the battery while towing.
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:25 PM   #20
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I had this problem in a 2005 Jeep Liberty. Turned out the battery was bad in the Jeep. After replacement we never had the problem again.
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